Academic Amotivation Inventory (AAI)

General Information on the Measure
Purpose of the measure

The Academic Amotivation Inventory (AAI) assesses students’ lack of motivation toward academics, particularly focused on their reasons for not wanting to study or do their homework.

Main constructs measured

Intrapersonal competencies

Applicable grade levels

Middle and high school

Publication year for the most recent version

2006

Year originally developed

2006

Related measures
Measure Administration
Respondent

Student

Method of administration

Paper/Pencil

Number of items

16

Item format

Seven-point Likert-type scale

Administration time

No information is available in the references reviewed.

Available languages

French, English

Fee for use Free and publicly available
Credentials required for administration

None

Scoring
Overall score reporting

An overall academic amotivation score is reported.

Subscore reporting

There are four subscores:

  • Value of task
  • Ability beliefs
  • Characteristics of the task
  • Value placed on the task
Scoring procedures

The measure is self-scored.

Interpretive information

No information is available in the references reviewed.

Evidence of Technical Quality
Populations for which technical quality evidence has been collected

Evidence was collected from two samples of Francophone high school students in Canada (N=351, N=349).

Reliability evidence

Internal consistency (alpha) estimates ranged from 0.76 to 0.89 (Legault et al., 2006).

Validity evidence
Evidence based on content
Items were developed by experts on motivation (Legault et al., 2006).
Evidence based on response processes
No information is available in the references reviewed.
Evidence based on internal structure
Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis was used to substantiate the existence of four distinct subscales (Legault et al., 2006).
Evidence based on relations with other variables
Factor analyses were used to show that amotivation factors were distinct from motivation factors (Legault et al., 2006), and the four amotivation scales were positively associated with negative behaviors and psychological constructs including intention to drop out, academic anxiety, and lack of academic interest. Amotivation was negatively associated with time spent studying, academic self-esteem, and self-reported academic performance (Legault et al., 2006).
Locating the Measure
Obtaining a copy of the measure selfdeterminationtheory.org
References

Legault, Lisa, Isabelle Green-Demers, and Luc Pelletier, "Why do high school students lack motivation in the classroom? Toward an understanding of academic amotivation and the role of social support," Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 98, No. 3, 2006, pp. 567.

Notes

Measure summary updated January 24, 2019.